1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to infant toys and, more particularly, to a toy especially adapted to sooth an infant in a crib environment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many toys have been developed for the comfort and entertainment of infants and small children. Stuffed animals have always remained popular, both for their appeal with children of all ages, and for safety reasons. As technology has advanced, it has become possible to merge modern technology with traditional toys. For many years, infants have been amused and soothed by toys which produce sound. In recent years, more toys have incorporated voice-activation technology, where the toy is operated by the child""s voice. There is ample prior art in the field of sound-producing toys where the sound is pre-recorded.
Davison (U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,286) discloses a multiple activation crib toy. The crib toy has means for being affixed to the side of a crib. The toy has a housing formed from a molded plastic material, with an interior cavity and a stage portion, figures movably supported upon the stage portion, music means inside the interior cavity, motion means for moving the figures, and sound detecting means for activating the toy. When sound is detected, music plays and the figures move upon the stage.
Sweet (U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,457) discloses a pillow with appendages, and a cover for a pillow with appendages. The pillow has extended arms and legs, where the arms are long enough to extend around the neck or torso of a human. The pillow or pillow cover may be decorated, so that the pillow can be ornamental, or resemble a caricature of a person or animal. The pillow is formed so that it may cling to a human body. The pillow may include means of emitting sound, such as a pull string or voice-activated tape player. Means may also be included to enable one or more of the pillow""s appendages to move.
Belin et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,987) discloses a doll or animal with replaceable voice-activated speaking and recording mechanism. The mechanism may be inside the doll or animal, or it may be in a backpack. The mechanism has an audio device having a recorder to record sounds and a player to play the sounds recorded. A tape player is also provided for playing prerecorded messages, stories, or songs. The recorder may be voice-activated, so that the doll can record a child""s voice when the child begins to play with the doll. The playing function of the tape player is not voice-activated.
Other references that disclose dolls, toys, or other objects such as pillows that play music or other sounds include the patents to Basile (U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,172); Tinhorn (U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,065); Long et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,983); Black et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,963); and Mann (U.S. Pat. No. 6,170,602). Applicant incorporates by reference herein the disclosure of each of the patents referred to above.
Despite the teachings of the prior art, there remains a need for an improved infant toy. Desirably, such an infant toy would be equipped to record and play parent"" recorded voices or other sounds in order to provide comfort to the infant.
Preferably, any such toy would have the capability to play the recording upon voice-activation. Additionally, any such infant toy would have the capability to play pre-recorded sounds, user-recorded sounds, or a combination of pre-recorded sounds and user-recorded sounds.
In response to the foregoing concerns, the present invention provides an infant toy especially adapted for use in a crib environment. The infant toy is comprised of a body portion having an internal cavity and an audio device disposed within the cavity. The body portion is similar to commercially available stuffed animals and dolls, having a soft exterior manufactured from textiles, and having a high degree of cushioning. The audio device is disposed within the cavity and includes an audio memory that contains pre-recorded sounds, a sound recorder that initially contains no pre-recorded sounds but which can record sounds supplied by a user, a microphone connected to the sound recorder, a player to play sounds contained in either the audio memory or-the sound recorder or both, a speaker to broadcast sounds being played by the player, a manual or voice-activated first control for the player, a manual or voice-activated second control for the recorder, a manual third control for the audio memory and sound recorder, and a time-delay shut-off mechanism.
As will be apparent from the foregoing summary, the audio device has xe2x80x9cplayxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9crecordxe2x80x9d functions, both of which may be activated manually or by voice. The audio device has the capability of playing pre-recorded sounds, user-recorded sounds, or a combination of pre-recorded sounds and user-recorded sounds. Thus, the toy may be placed in close proximity to an infant, and when the infant cries, the toy will play a predetermined selection of sounds intended to soothe the infant.